The end of entitlement

A few weeks ago, I got a piece of mail I almost didn’t open. It was one of those generic envelopes that usually just gets tossed in the recycling bin. I opened it expecting nothing, but this turned out to be a notice of my inclusion in a class action lawsuit. And this one named a former employer.

I hadn’t filed anything. I wasn’t personally part of the claim. I qualified because I had worked there.

The lawsuit didn’t involve my role directly, but I believed every word. It was about how employees were treated—specifically, how they weren’t. And while the claim was technical, what it really pointed to was something bigger: a culture where leadership believed they could act however they wanted, without consequences. A workplace where people were expected to tolerate poor treatment, work through dysfunction, and accept that speaking up wouldn’t change anything.

That kind of leadership—built on entitlement—is still common. But it’s far less effective than it used to be.

Because employees are no longer willing to accept it.

Today’s workforce is more aware, more connected, and more willing to act. People know how to file claims, document behavior, and connect with others who’ve been through the same thing. They understand that their voices carry weight, especially when they speak collectively. When companies show a pattern of disregard—cutting corners on people while protecting leadership—employees don’t just quietly move on. They push back. Publicly, legally, and sometimes with real consequences.

This class action isn’t an outlier. It’s part of a broader shift. You can see it in union efforts in tech and retail. In walkouts and coordinated resignations. In the way people talk openly now about bad bosses, unfair treatment, and double standards. There’s less fear. There’s more coordination. And there’s a growing refusal to be quietly taken advantage of.

You can see it in hiring, too. In the companies that run candidates through five rounds of interviews, then disappear. In the job descriptions that ask for ten years of experience at entry-level pay. In the assumption that people should be grateful just to be considered. These practices reflect the same kind of entitlement, expecting time, trust, and silence from people you haven’t earned it from. And candidates are responding the same way employees are: by documenting, sharing, and walking away.

And it’s not just employees. Customers and communities are responding the same way. People who were once expected to stay quiet—because they didn’t have power, or access, or representation—are finding ways to hold institutions accountable. They’ve learned how to use their voices, how to build momentum, and how to force change when the system won’t do it on its own.

You can see it in the protests against ICE detention centers. In the backlash against corporate Pride campaigns that feel hollow. In boycotts of companies like Target, some driven by outrage, others by disappointment. People are watching closely, and they’re done being spoken down to. Done being treated like they can’t tell the difference between genuine leadership and a PR script.

What’s happening is bigger than labor. It’s a cultural shift. People are rejecting the idea that power makes you right. They’re pushing back on institutions that rely on confusion, on silence, on people not knowing their rights or not believing they have a voice.

We’re smarter than we used to be. More connected. Less patient with spin.

We don’t need a seat at the table to act. We just need to recognize that we’re not alone, and we don’t have to accept what’s handed to us.

That’s what’s happening. At work. In the marketplace. In the streets. The people who used to be ignored or taken for granted are saying no.

Loudly. Legally. Publicly.

And if leadership doesn’t adjust, they’ll find themselves on the receiving end of more than just a lawsuit. They’ll lose trust. They’ll lose people. And they’ll lose the credibility to lead when it matters most.

Leaders who understand this don’t wait for backlash to listen. They build systems that treat people with respect from the start.

Entitlement may have once been mistaken for strength. But today, it reads as weakness. Disconnection. Insecurity masked as control.

Leadership today requires the opposite: humility, reciprocity, and a deep respect for the people you expect to follow you.

Entitlement isn’t just eroding. It’s being replaced by a new model built not on assumed authority, but on earned trust.

And the leaders who understand that shift? They’re already ahead.